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[JCZ]

I am a little less than 3 years from retirement. I am considering a Jayco Pinnacle with a Freedom Hauler behind it. One drawback is that even though Freedom Hauler advertises it as an extension of the fifth wheel some of the states that don't allow tandem towing recognize it as a trailer.....Imagine that. I figure I can get in a campground on the borders of those states and take motorcycle excursions into them. If I go this route I will put 2 motorcycle loaders on the freedom hauler to load and unload the bikes. Here is a link to freedom hauler so you can see what I am talking about.
https://freedomhauler.com/

Just a suggestion.....might want to check the recalls on Jayco products before you pull the trigger.  Jayco is on that list often every week when it comes out.  Jayco and Forest River are on that recall more regularly, by far, than other mfgs.

[444turbodiesel]

Hello from Indiana!
Here’s my 2008 Escalade, 2010 FatBoy Lo and 2019 CVO Street Glide in the garage!




Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Dan_Lockwood]

Well I spent last weekend doing my new hitch.

Saturday I spent about half the day crawling under the truck, then up top, then back under, you get the idea.  Doing this alone was a chore.  The gooseneck under bed center section weighed about 80# and man handling it up over the axle was chore.  I had a chain through the ball hole and my engine cherry picker over the bed rail.  I would pull up the slack on the chain and hook it off on the picker and then crawl back under and move it a bit and then up top to take up the slack again.  When I finally got it up to the underside of the box bed, my neighbor came over and even though he only had one usable hand, he then helped with the picker jack up/down etc.  Also getting to all the bolts with the exhaust still in place and reaching up from the creeper, was another chore altogether.  Specially trying to get the 110'/# torque on all the grade 8 bolts.

The front cross beam is 1" x 2" bar stock.  WOW that's thick and heavy.  The rear cross bar was 2" x 3/8" angle, also very heavy.  I didn't have to drill a hole other than in the bed.  Everything fit just like it should.  Measured 47.5" from the end of the box and drilled my 4" hole.  The center section of the hitch fit perfectly into the hole and all the frame side brackets bolted right up without any issues.  B&W did a great job on this hitch.  The companion hitch was also very well made and very heavy.  The top comes of with two lock pins and two trip handles.  I'm guessing around 75# for the top section.  But the lower main plate section probably goes around 125# or more.  I know that I can lift it up out of the bed and move it, but I would not want to do it everyday without an overhead lift of some sort. 

Do you guys remove your hitches when on the road camping?  I guess that would depend on if you needed your box to haul more than planks/boards, no plywood or drywall would fit with it in the bed.  Just wondering.  I've got so many questions that my mind at night just runs and I can't get to sleep.  I guess it's not all that bad of a thing to keep me awake.

So anyway, after a 4" hole cut in the bed floor and then four 1/2" holes for the safety chain spring loaded u-bolts, it was finally in.  Now I have a smooth box floor when the ball is flipped over or removed.



Next on Sunday came the 20k companion hitch.  I had to flip the post to their #2 position because I could not even get close to being in front of the pin centerline to the axle centerline.  Flipping it to #2 got me 4" forward.  Then I had to swap the upright mounts a couple times to where it is now.  The best I can measure, I'm around 2" in front of my axle centerline.  From what I've read, anywhere from 2" to 6" could be used, but closer to the 2" would be best.  That's where I think I am, hopefully.





So with the hitch out all I'll have are the two rounded tops of the u-bolts.



You can see from the box pictures, this truck has been USED...  A month ago Linda and I were tearing down our original cedar deck and had to get rid of all the old lumber.  We started carrying the lumber around to the truck and I told her that if this were a new truck, I would NOT throw this stuff in there, but as long as it's already dented and beat up, no problems adding a few of my own to make it mine.  It's really not bad, just dented on the wheel wheels in many places.  The outside of the truck and interior are all really good, so that's all that matters.

So for around $1500, I'm good to go now.  I'm at around 56.5" at the top of the hitch and my 5th wheel sitting fairly level in the dealer's lot has a pin box height of 53".  So figuring about a 3" drop in the rearend when loaded, I "should" be close.  I think they still have some pin box adjustments if needed at hook up.

Stay tuned for part 2

[Dan_Lockwood]

Part 2

Linda and I are going up to Ankeney IA.  That's about 15 minutes from my son's place in Runnels IA.  It's his buddy that I bought from.

I'll tell you guys this, I was NOT really looking to buy a truck just yet.  I still have 115 days, 2 hours and 51 minutes until I'm done.  At that point I will technically be on vacation through January 2nd.  After that I just won't go back to work.......... ALL DONE!  So anyway, if anyone has been looking to purchase a good used 1 ton diesel dually at a good price, they find that they are far and few between.  So when my '12 RAM came up on the radar, it was something I just had to get.  THEN we weren't looking to purchase a toy hauler until next spring, but again, all the planets aligned and we found one in our price range that checked all of our must have boxes, along with some extras for good measure.

We're going up the 6th to pick it up and bring it back home.  It "may" fit in my driveway, maybe...  I think I may stick out in the cul de sac about a foot in front, but I can live with that for a few days.  We can't have anything like a boat, trailer or RV parked more than two or three days at a time.  AND for anyone thinking about doing this and not being a full timer, keep in mind that storing the dang thing will set you back another $50 to $60 / month... 

I'll update everyone after we get it home and have some time to play with it.

I've got a LOT to learn on this thing.  I know I have hydraulic 1-touch 6-leg leveling, but have no idea how to use it to unhook from the hitch, remember the hitch height, or how far from level can the RV be and still get the leveling to work.  I guess blocking on a slanted driveway will be necessary so I can get the pads all about the same height when I start.

What kind of wheel chocks work the best, the injection molded plastic with the ribs or the solid rubber ones?  It's things like this that I'm going to have to get up to speed on.

Any suggestions will be graciously accepted...

Until then... Later dudes!

[Dan_Lockwood]

Well we finally picked up the new toy hauler, at least new to us.

They went through a 5 hour training last Friday for us and we got a LOT out of it.  My wife's brain was full in about half an hour...   So after that she was just along for the ride, so to speak... 

Here it is as we pulled into my son's barn driveway in Runnels IA, suburb of Des Moines.  It's a little deceiving, but the truck is really level and the Raptor is also very level.  We stopped at a Walmart on the way home and I parked out in east BF.  While walking back to the rig it was sitting perfectly level as a unit.  I have probably more than 8" of box rail clearance!



Same day but before slides out and leveled up.



At home in our sub-division.  So far since Saturday afternoon, I've had no complaints about it sitting there.  We have rules that say boat trailers / campers etc can only be on our property for 2 to 3 days max.  In this case it will be until someone complains, or next Sunday whichever comes first.



At 43' long and leaving walking room around the rear up next to the house, I stick out just a bit into the cul de sac.  Also I cannot say enough about the Lippert Level UP system.  This is GREAT!  Even at this much of an angle, it leveled up.  I did know enough to place some wood under the front to "help" out on the legs so they would have to extend out all the way.



I think this is what people call a driveway full of STUFF!



This is a close up of the house garage.  It shows my "other" new play toy, an '88 Cadillac Allante.  It's my ex-wife's and she gave it to me to get it out of her yard after her late husband passed away a couple months ago.  I kidded her that I wasn't sure if she was trying to get even with me for divorcing her or actually trying to be nice.  Knowing what I do NOW about Allantes, I believe that she's getting even with me.  She bought it back in '93 and since '07 its only move 110 miles.  It came with a new rag top installed and up.  The aluminum hard top that came from the factory as part of the total Allante package, has a roller cart and cover, but I felt the safest place was on the car.  Working on new water pump and all new idler pulleys along with new alternator bearings.  New belt too.







And yes, if it looks like there are LOTS of dash buttons, there are; 57 of them to be exact.



So that's the show for today.

Any questions or suggestions, please let me know.

Have a GREAT DAY!